vCenter Server 5.5 supports connection between vCenter Server and vCenter Server components by IP address only if the IP address is IPv4-compliant. To connect to a vCenter Server system in an IPv6 environment, you must use the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or host name of the vCenter Server. The best practice is to use the FQDN, which works in all cases, instead of the IP address, which can change if assigned by DHCP.

Select Do not upgrade existing vCenter Server database if you do not have a backup copy of your database.

You cannot continue the upgrade.

Click I have taken a backup of the existing vCenter Server database and SSL certificates.

Select how to upgrade vCenter Agent.

Option

Description

Automatic

To automatically upgrade vCenter Agent on all the hosts in the vCenter Server inventory.

Manual

If one of the following applies:

You need to control the timing of vCenter Agent upgrades on specific hosts.

vCenter Agent is installed on each host in the inventory to enable vCenter Server to manage the host. vCenter Agent must be upgraded when vCenter Server is upgraded.

vCenter Agent is installed on each host in the inventory to enable vCenter Server to manage the host. vCenter Agent must be upgraded when vCenter Server is upgraded.

Select the account for the vCenter Service to run in.

Option

Description

SYSTEM Account

Select the Use Windows Local System Account check box, type the fully qualified domain name of the vCenter Server host, and click Next. You cannot use the Use Windows Local System Account account if you are using the bundled database or SQL Server with Windows authentication.

User-specified account

Deselect the Use Windows Local System Account check box, type the account password and the fully qualified domain name of the vCenter Server host, and click Next.

Accept or change the port numbers to connect to vCenter Server.

(Optional) Select Increase the number of available ephemeral ports.

Select the size of your vCenter Server inventory to allocate memory for several Java services that are used by vCenter Server.

This setting determines the maximum JVM heap settings for VMware VirtualCenter Management Webservices (Tomcat), Inventory Service, and Profile-Driven Storage Service. You can adjust this setting after installation if the number of hosts in your environment changes. See the recommendations in the topic vCenter Server Hardware Requirements.